WUNRN
SYRIA - HELP FOR VULNERABLE IRAQI
FEMALE-HEADED
HOUSEHOLDS IN SYRIA & VICTIMS OF
TRAFFICKING
Source: International Organization for Migration (IOM)
22 Oct 2010
IOM is distributing, through its national partner the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Association (SARC), some 800 hygiene kits to Iraqi female-headed families in Syria and victims of trafficking currently assisted in two IOM shelters in Damascus and Aleppo.
The distribution will ensure vulnerable women have access to basic hygiene materials.
It will also provide short-term assistance to Iraqi female-headed families and their children and reduce their vulnerability to trafficking and exploitation.
"The kits containing soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mops, tissues and other things will be distributed at (SARC) headquarters in the Harasta suburb," says IOM's Ibrahim Massad. "But the assistance provided through IOM and its partners to vulnerable Iraqi families and individuals goes far beyond today's distribution."
This initiative, part of a wider € 1.5 million European Union (EU) funded programme, aims to provide comprehensive assistance and protection to vulnerable Iraqi female-headed families and victims of trafficking in Syria.
It includes the provision of medical and psychosocial assistance, vocational training and long term assistance to help vulnerable families and victims of trafficking engage in income-generating activities. Without means to find employment to take care of their children, female-headed families in particular remain vulnerable to human trafficking.
The Syrian government and IOM began their efforts to address human trafficking in the country in 2005 following the arrival of large numbers of Iraqis. Since then, counter-trafficking initiatives in the country have expanded including a conference on human trafficking held in Damascus in June 2010 and an awareness-raising workshop on anti-trafficking measures organized last month by IOM in conjunction with the Syrian Women's Union and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
A first IOM shelter for victims of trafficking was opened in Damascus in December 2008 funded by the Netherlands, UNICEF and the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM). Since then, it has assisted 124 victims of trafficking.
Earlier this year, a second IOM shelter funded by the European Union was opened in Aleppo in cooperation with the Syrian Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour and the Juvenile Welfare Association for Girls. The shelter has so far assisted 48 victims of trafficking.
For more information please contact:
IOM: Maysa Ismael mismael@iom.int Tel: +963-11-6121370 ext. 370
The European Union: Kinda Katranji, kinda.katranji@ec.europa.eu Tel: +963-11-332 7640, ext. 149